Breast Surgery is a surgical procedure that increases the size of the breasts using implants that are filled with either silicone gel or saline. Women who undergo the procedure often report increased self-esteem, better posture and reduced back pain. If a Breast Surgery is cancerous, it's usually removed along with some of the tissue around it (a mastectomy). The surgeon may also remove a lymph node in your armpit -- a process called a sentinel node biopsy to check for signs that the cancer has spread there. Body Lift: Transform Your Physique with Expert Surgical Techniques A partial mastectomy, skin-sparing mastectomy or nipple sparing mastectomy leaves the nipple and some of the breast covering intact. A radical mastectomy is less common; it removes the entire breast and a large portion of the tissue that covers the chest muscles. This is used to treat a very serious type of cancer or when immediate breast reconstruction is planned. Surgery can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer in people who are at very high risk because they have a harmful mutation in one of the genes known to increase the chance of getting the disease. This is called preventive or prophylactic surgery. Breast cancer surgery usually happens in a hospital. You are given medicine to make you sleepy (a general anesthetic). The surgeon makes an incision in the breast to remove the tissue. If the lump is large, he or she may use a mammogram or ultrasound to guide a wire into the right spot. The surgeon might drain fluid from the wound site or the armpit with plastic tubes.